Conservancy Partnership To Benefit Riverside Park's Forest Areas

UPPER WEST SIDE-HARLEM, NY — A partnership between a New York City-based nature conservation and the nonprofit stewards of Riverside Park will benefit the beloved park's natural forests.

Riverside Park — which stretches four miles along the Hudson River from West 72nd to 158th streets — is probably most well-known for its scenic greenway and numerous playgrounds, but it's also home to about 60 acres of natural forests. Forested areas provide New Yorkers great places to hike and bird watch, and also benefit the city's environment by cooling temperatures, improving air quality and capturing water, Natural Areas Conservancy co-founder Sarah Charlop-Powers said.

The importance of these areas is why the Natural Areas Conservancy is teaming up with the Riverside Park Conservancy to create a five-year management plan on how to best maintain these natural resources.

Scientists from the Natural Areas Conservancy will work with the Riverside Park Conservancy over the next seven months to educate the park's stewards on the best practices for forest management, Charlop-Powers told Patch. The group utilizes research and data to identify areas where park stewards can improve forest maintenance efforts. By lending scientific expertise, parks stewardship groups can focus on on-the-ground implementation, Charlop-Powers said.

The five-year plan created by the Natural Areas Conservancy will identify specific restoration opportunities for Riverside Park and will also include estimates on restoration projects' staffing and funding needs, Charlop-Powers said.

Riverside Park Conservancy President & CEO Dan Garodnick said that the partnership will provide his organization with a "masterclass on forest management," an area the group has identified for improvement.

Many of Riverside Park's native trees are currently threatened by invasive plant species, and strategies developed by the partnership between Natural Areas Conservancy and the Riverside Park Conservancy will help native trees thrive in the long run, Garodnick said.

"[The partnership] will ensure that some of the city’s most impressive trees will be able to grow and develop into mature trees," Garodnick told Patch.

Garodnick added that Riverside Park does not "operate in a vacuum" and that improving the health of the park's 60 acres of forest land will result in environmental benefits for New York City as a whole.

Riverside Park is one of two parks — the other being Bronx park — to partner with the group this year. Last year, Natural Areas Conservancy partnered with the Forest Park Trust in Queens and Prospect Park Alliance in Brooklyn. Natural Areas Conservancy contacted 15 city parks with more than 50 acres of natural forest land and encouraged them to apply for the partnership grant through a Request for Proposals process. Bids from stewardship groups with existing forest management capabilities were prioritized, Charlop-Powers said.

Natural Areas Conservancy released a report called "Forest Management Framework for New York City" in 2018 to create a plan to protect and support New York City's urban forests. The city contains 7,300 acres of forested parkland, which accounts for about 11.6% of the city's land.

"We are committed to improving the city’s 7,300 acres of forested natural areas to increase New Yorkers’ quality of life. Forests are critical and underappreciated parts of our city’s infrastructure that filter our air, cool our city and provide solace and respite for every New Yorker," Charlop-Powers said.